April 16 2012, Matthew Pitt

The PokerStars.com European Poker Tour is back in Berlin for the third time in its history for the penultimate stop of Season Eight. Day 1a has been written into the history books after 10 one-hour levels were played in the luxurious Hyatt hotel across from the Spielbank Casino. When the tournament director finally called time on proceedings shortly before 0100 CET, and the players bagged up their precious ceramic discs, former EPT champion Vladimir Geshkenbein, emerged as the chip leader.

The Russian pro did not get off to the best start on Monday, and was down to 15,000 early on, but he staged an amazing comeback, hitting hands like they were going out of style. Cracking ace-king with ace-queen was just one example of him running amazingly well. He slipped up toward the end of the day but recovered to win a series of pots to end the day as the overall chip leader with 201,600.

Jens Weigel is Geshkenbein’s nearest rival, he managed to turn his 30,000 starting stack into an impressive 199,600. Weigel did not have the easiest of tables to deal with, because he had recent Irish Open champion Kevin Vandersmissen and Sam Chartier to deal with for the vast majority of the day. That did not stop him however, from hoovering up the leaderboard. Weigel only has one EPT cash to his name – a 30th place finish in this event last year – and if he keeps up this kind of form for the rest of the week, he could very well go even deeper.

Sam Chartier also made it through to Day 2, bagging a stack of 138,000. Right at the start of play on Monday he made a superb call with on a board that contained an ace, a pair of queens and a nine after his opponent bluff-raised all in on the river with what turned out to be a pair of fives.

Amongst the 243 players who chose to enter Day 1a of the EPT Berlin Main Event was a whole host of Team PokerStars Pro. They included Barry Greenstein, Theo Jorgensen, Vanessa Selbst, Angel Guillen, Martin Stazsko, Jan Heitmann, Henrique Pinho and Pierre Neuville. Team PokerStars as a whole had a good result from Day 1a. In fact all but Staszko, who was eliminated shortly before the end of the day, safely navigated through the minefield that is the first flight of an EPT. They are part of the 110 survivors who also had chips to bag at tag at the end of the night.

End of Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts

Day 1b’s field should be even larger, and if the rumors are true, then the field could close in on 700 entrants. That means the players will be not only seated in the vast tournament area of the Hyatt hotel, but also in the adjoining Spielbank Casino too – just to fit them all in!

The action kicks off at 1200 CET (0300 PDT) sharp and will continue until 10 one-hour levels and a 75-minute dinner break have been completed. The well-known faces that are to take part are so numerous that we could fill an entire page with their names but expect to see the likes of Team PokerStars Pros Bertand “ElkY” Grospellier, Eugene Katchalov and Arnaud Mattern along with a whole host of other familiar characters.

Join the PokerNews Live Reporting Team as soon play gets under way for all the action, as it happens, from the European Poker Tour Berlin Main Event.

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March 24 2012, Josh Bell

On Day 2 of the PokerStars.net 2012 Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Sydney Main Event, the field began with 208 players, but by the end of day, only 27 remained. The clock ticked just past midnight when it was all over on Day 2, and Nicholas Heather was the man who bagged up the most chips.

Heather knows what it takes to make a deep run in a poker tournament, boasting a WSOP final table finish on his resume. In the latter half of the night here on Day 2, Heather accumulated just under one million in chips and has placed himself in the best position to make a run at the $226,812 first-place prize.

At the beginning of the day, Tobin Ryall held the chip lead. Ryall continued his great run early in the day and then hit a plateau. He’ll still be in the tournament on Day 3, but will return with only 197,000 in chips.

Some players who won’t be returning for another day of action include Joel Dodds, Leo Boxell, Tony Hachem, Daniel Laidlaw, Mel Judah, Lee Nelson, Graeme Putt, Justin Cohen and Maria Ho.

It was a similar fate for Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen. He never managed to gain any momentum on Day 2. Guillen open-shoved his last 27,000 holding and unfortunately ran into . The board brought no help to Guillen and he was sent out the door.

Just a short while after Guillen hit the rail, play went hand-for-hand as the money bubble loomed. The name Luis Arrilucea may sound familiar because he was the runner-up finisher of last year’s ANZPT Sydney Main Event, but it wasn’t the same story this year. Arrilucea became the bubble boy when his went up against an opponent’s and found no help from the flop, turn, or river.

After the bubble burst, the players started hitting the rail one-by-one. A few of the notable players who finished in the money include Dean McIver (53rd), Andrew Mellado (52nd), Todor Kondevski (46th), Suzy Khoueis (38th) and Jim Sachinidis (29th).

Jim Collopy, Liam O’Rourke, Alec Smith, Gordon Huntly, and Mishel Annunu started dominating their tables after the bubble, and finished the night with enough chips to do some damage on Day 3. Also returning is 2008 APPT Sydney champ Martin Rowe, 2010 ANZPT Darwin runner-up Luke Edwards and 2010 APPT Sydney fourth-place finisher Peco Stojanovski.

One of the big stories to emerge from the night was the success of Oliver Speidel. Speidel eliminated Day 1b chip leader Tam Truong and from that point forward, he could not be stopped. The 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event champion will begin Day 3 with the second-biggest chip stack, and will be looking to continue his great run of the last few months.

End of Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

Action kicks off on Sunday at 1400 AEST (2100 PST Saturday) for the 27 remaining players, as they each try to make a run at becoming the victor of the 2012 ANZPT Sydney Main Event. Make sure to join the PokerNews Live Reporting Team, who will be on the floor every step of the way to crowning a champion.

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